Once a Brother, Always a Brother
by Falling Backwards Again
Summary: Stan's past has never been clear, but when Dipper discovers that there may have been another who lived in the Mystery Shack, he and Mabel go on a quest to discover who this mysterious "twin" of Stan's is. Along the way, they go on many adventures, but trouble rises when Gideon and Pacifica come to get revenge. Can the Pines outwit monsters, magic, and power? Or will they lose more?
1. Prologue

**Hello FanFiction! I'm Falling Backwards Again, and I'm new to the whole, I'm-so-in-love-with-a-cartoon-I-want-to-write-stor ies-about-the-characters thing. So, please review and tell me what you think! Now presenting: Once a Brother, Always a Brother!**

* * *

With the Mystery Shack's deed back in Stan's hands, and Gideon locked up in the stony lonesome, finally everyone could have a normal night under the old tourist trap's roof. Mabel had announced an ice cream chugging contest, which was going in right about-

"FWI FIN!" Mabel cheered, thrusting both her hands to the ceiling, on top of a wooden chair. Her mouth had gone numb from the sheer impossible amount of ice cream that had been stuffed inside of it. Dipper groaned slumping onto the table.

"Mabel, how did you even do that? It's not physically possible! Ten gallons of ice cream, your mouth must be a black hole!" He said, mind uncomprehending. Mabel then promptly passed out, falling off of the chair, landing on Dipper. And kids, if you know the law of gravity, you know if an ice cream endorsed preteen falls her tired brother, he falls with her. Soos had gone back to his grandma's to get their clothes and Mabel's endless line of sweaters. Leaving Dipper pinned under his little sister. (Technically older, but he didn't focus on details like that. Just look how she acted!)

"Mabel! Cut it out! Get off!" He said in vain, but his words fell on deaf ears as she began to snore. He squirmed and wiggled, finally pushing the deadweight named Mabel off of him. Leaving her passed out on the floor. He sighed, and kicked his foot her to see if she was going to be like this all night. Nothing.

"Grunkle Stan!" Dipper called. "Mabel passed out on the floor again!" This was the fifth time. Don't ask about the other times. Dipper thought he old man was asleep until he came walking through the door in his boxers and undershirt. After looking at Mabel for a few seconds, then rubbing his eyes sleepily, he said,

"Get her in bed then." With that, he turned around and headed back to his own bed.

"But how can I carry her up the stairs?!" Dipper said. He wasn't exactly Manly Dan!

"Your problem kid, not mine." Stan said, nonchalantly. Dipper sighed. There was always the possibility of waking her up, but it wasn't likely. Then, like a strike of lightning, it hit him! Soos' break room! It still had his old new bed in it, and he wouldn't have to worry about giving Mabel a concussion. He picked up her arm, and began to pull her, all the while she snored.

By the time they got to the break room, Mabel must have had all the dirt, lint, and that weird stain Stan refused to clean knotted up in her hair. Dipper opened the door, and dragged Mabel through. When he got to the edge of the bed, he tried to pick Mabel up, but she only moved a little. This was going to take a while...

**43 minutes later...**

"Mabel! Get! Up! On! The! Bed!" Dipper said through angered shouts. Heaving with all his might, he finally got Mabel up on the bed. She was crooked and drooling on her pillow, but he couldn't bother any more. Shaking the invisible dust off of his hands, Dipper started to head out of the room until he saw a shadow lurking up in a familiar shape-

Nothing. Just his imagination. He looked around, but only saw the old relics in the room. The room itself was quite interesting, and Dipper had never looked it over thoroughly. He then saw something reflecting light and casting colors off of the desk near the bed. Curiously, he walked over, and saw what was creating the pigments.

Just a plain prism. It was pretty nice, though. Dipper picked it up, and looked it over, hands turning it over again and again, looking for some significant detail. There was nothing. Completely plain. Well, it would make a nice paperweight, wouldn't it? It was t like Stan or Soos was going to use it. Dipper put the prism into his left vest pocket, and quietly walked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

* * *

Stan couldn't sleep. As he couldn't some nights. Usually, he just watched TV and drank soda until he fell asleep, but recently he had been a bit more caring- no, cautious towards his niece and nephew. He didn't want to wake them up. Hearing the stairs creak in protest, he knew Dipper had gone up the stairs. But where was Mabel?

Getting off of the chair smack in the center of the living room, he poked a head into the kitchen. Mabel was gone. Dipper certainly hadn't carried her upstairs, he didn't have the muscle. So he walked through the house, into the other rooms. The Mystery Shack was much bigger than it looked, leaving him lots of options.

Then he heard the snores.

Heading to the east apart of the house, he stopped at a very familiar room. He had covered this up years prior, but Soos had managed to find it. He was a handyman, though. It was to be expected. It was just this part of his past... he didn't want to remember. Someone else had once slept in this room. Shaking his head, Stan looked inside. Finding Mabel crooked on the bed.

He gave what could be considered a smile, and closed the door, saying,

"Goodnight, kid." He turned around, and besides back to living room. When he got back to his chair, he pulled out a pair of glasses similar to his, only more circular in shape. He sighed, saying to himself,

"I miss you sometimes, you know? It's hard not having your twin with you."


	2. The Adventure of the Missing Pig

**Wow! Two reviews?! Thanks so much, guys! Anyway, that was just the prologue to their adventure. We'll be getting closer to the paranormal in this chapter! (At the bottom, there's a cipher. Solve it using the code Dipper discovers! For those who don't remember, it's three letters back!)**

* * *

Ever had a moment of pure peace? Alone, everything's quiet, and you feel as though you're indestructible, like nothing could go wrong? So did Dipper in the attic, reading his book.

Poor Dipper.

"DIIPPPPEEEERRRRR!" Mabel yelled too loudly, even for a floor down from the attic. Dipper was just getting into an interesting part of the journal with something along the lines of Atabash. Dipper closed the book, trying to memorize the page number while doing so. He then yelled back,

"WHAT MABEL?!" Followed by the sound of the creaky stairs and a fast paced fry med on them. The door flew open, revealing a very perspired Mabel, sweating and panting.

"HAVE YOU *Pant* SEEN *Pant* WADDLES ANYWHERE? I CAN'T *Pant* FIND HIM!" She was wearing a sweater with a lollipop on it today, with red and white striped running slanted down the side. Dipper shook his head, and said,

"Mabel, aren't you overreacting? I'm sure he's somewhere around the house, probably eating the leftovers again." Last time Waddles was left unattended, he ate all of the pancakes out of the 'fridge.

"But Dipper! I haven't seen him ALL DAY! Aren't you worried? He could have been in a disaster!" She said, putting more emphasis on the horror of the situation. Dipper turned, putting his feet on the floor and off of the window seat, and said,

"Don't worry, Mabel. I'll help you find your pig. Where was he last night?" After putting Journal 3 in his vest again.

"In the living room, where he likes to sleep in front of the TV and annoy Grunkle Stan." Mabel said, obviously relieved to have her twin's help.

"Okay, did you check in the living room?" Dipper asked, oblivious to the fact that Mabel had probably turned the shack upside down looking for her pig. Mabel huffed and crossed her arms, then said,

"Dipper! I checked the entire house and my completely hidden and secret candy stash!"

"Okay, okay! We'll just look outside- Wait, your what?"

"Nothing! Onwards Dipper! To find Waddles!" With that, Mabel triumphantly marched out of the room, leaving a confused Dipper behind. He then shook his head and ran after her, closing the door behind him.

Little did he know that when he closed the door, the triangle in the center of the window vanished.

* * *

Running to the front of the shack, the Mystery Twins successfully managed to knock over two lamps, the vacuum cleaner, break a lightbulb on the ceiling, and break a random elephant tusk. Grunkle Stan was not going to be happy. A few customers managed to avoid hurricane Mabel, but other were pushed into random merchandise. The only thing that stopped them was the familiar voice coming from the counter.

"Hey dudes! What's going on?" Soos, handyman, man-child, friend had watched them storm in and disrupt life as we know it.

"No time to talk, Soos! We have a pig to find!" Mabel said as one would state their authority.

"Can I come with you? I can find Wendy and get her to look over the shack for while. Then we can have, like an awesome adventure!" Dipper was about to say no, brut he quickly remembered how Soos had helped them escape the pterodactyl, and owed him one. He'd make good company, anyway.

"Sure, as long as you help look for Waddles. Deal?" Dipper asked.

"Deal!" Soos said energetically. "This is great!" He ran off for a second, then came back. "She said, Sure, whatever. Let's get moving, Dino Bros!" then he glanced over at Mabel for a second, before finishing with, "And Bro-ettes."

All the while the poor customers and tourists in the gift shop had no clue what was going on.

"So, where would Waddles be? He couldn't go far, he's just a pig." Dipper said, trying to hurry up all the while.

"Did you check the backyard? There's always random stuff there. Would a pig be random?" Soos answered while asking his own question.

"Yes!" Mabel said, looking down at the ground. Soos and Dipper looked at her for a moment, but understood what she cheered about once they saw the ground. There were faint hoof prints in the dirt on the left side of the shack. Pig prints, by the looks of it. The trio kept there eyes glued to the ground as they followed the prints to the backyard, where they mysteriously stopped.

"So now what?" Dipper questioned. Pigs just don't vanish, but then again, this IS Gravity Falls.

"Maybe we should check that shed, dudes." Soos said, pointing to a building straight in the middle of the backyard. Mabel rushed forward, and swung the door open. Her eyes searched frantically, but paused when they noticed something else.

"Dipper?" She said, slowly and nervously. "Come here for a second..." She finished as she motioned to the door of the shed. Dipper jogged over, followed by a huffing Soos. Gazing inside, he was dumbstruck.

Inside the shed were map coating the walls so much that you couldn't see the wood that made up the outside of the shed. In the corners were stacks of books pulled up, with names like _Codes for Kids _and Cryptids: A Guide to the Monsters of the World. There was a board with all sorts of pictures tacked to it. Some showed just plain things, like footprints or tufts of hair, while other showed blurry pictures of creatures Dipper couldn't identify. But that wasn't the freaky part. The freaky part were the red, bold letter drawn on the maps. Some of them were:

_WHERE DID HE HIDE THEM FROM ME?!_

_DOES STAN TRUST ME ANYMORE?_

_HAVE I FINALLY LOST IT?_

_I KNOW IT EXISTS! I SAW IT!_

_McGUCKET CAN LIE, BUT HE CAN'T HIDE!_

The final part was most chilling. Just one phrase, written over and over again:

_AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH AHAHA!_

"Dudes, do you know what this means?" Soos said, breaking the nervous silence.

"Someone drank too much hot chocolate and had a crazy moment?" Mabel asked. Suddenly, a small rustling noise was heard in the back of the shed. Dipper instinctively put his arm across Mabel, prepared for anything. Then, out of a small, brown burlap sack, a little creature dashed forwards. When it got into the light, Dipper could see what it was.

A gourd. To be more precise, a gourd with a human face and emotions. It ran passed them, sobbing, and ran into the woods.

The trio chased after it, shed forgotten.

**WKDW'V PA VKHG!**


	3. And that's where Human Squash came From!

**Two more reviews? That's amazing! Again, thanks so much! I'm kind of surprised that no one figured out the cipher. Were you hoping I was going to tell you? Well, sorry to disappoint. I'm not going to give it away... yet. Enough blabber! Back to what you came for! The story!**

* * *

Who knew squashes could run so fast? Especially if they have human legs. No arms, though. It was crying for no particular reason, which made it all the stranger. I would be too, though, if three mysterious giant beasts woke me up out of my sleep and started chasing me.

"We've almost lost it! Run faster, puny legs!" Mabel said, as if the statement alone could change her running speed. Dipper had gotten a head start, fortunately, and was still in hot pursuit. Soos was... not doing as well. In fact, he had almost collapsed after the first minute. A feeble "Wait up, dudes!" wasn't heard by the Mystery Twins. Before they knew it, the forest began darkening, and they ran further and further into the darker brush. Until they ran out of breath.

"Mabel! *Pant* Where did *Pant* it *Pant* go?" Dipper said, wheezing and panting. He took time to survey his surrounding while Mabel caught up. He almost couldn't see through the pines that coated the forest. Mabel emerged from one of the directions, clearly out of breath as well, but not so much as she couldn't talk without panting.

"Dipper, we lost it. It's gone... and we're lost." She stated, watching him to see if he was alright. "You okay, bro?" She said in one of her most Mabel-est voices. Dipper was still coughing, but he stopped shortly after Mabel asked him.

"Fine. May- maybe we can fi- find a landmark or somet- something." He stated, voice obviously taking the toll from his run. Suddenly, a movement was heard from their right side. Squinting to see, Mabel looked closer while leaning down. Dipper put his arm in front of her protectively, again.

What emerged was a sight to behold. It was Jeff, leader of the gnomes being chased by the freaky human squash. That was trying to bite and swallow him.

"Ahh! Bad squash! No!" Jeff said, in a feeble attempt to get the vegetable humanoid to stop. Dipper and Mabel just watched as the squash continually snapped at the little lawn ornament. "Hey! Hey you two!" Jeff said in a hurry. "HELP ME!" He exclaimed, running in circles now.

"Oh yeah? Why should we?" Dipper said, more annoyed to see the little thing again/

"Yeah! After you tried to make me your Queen AND betrayed us to Gideon!" Mabel said, bringing the past memories of the summer to light once more.

"PLEASE! I'LL DO ANYTHING! JUST MAKE HIM STOP! HE WON'T OBEY ME!" Jeff pleaded one last time. Dipper and Mabel exchanged a look, and then Mabel picked up a stick conveniently beside her. Dipper then yelled,

"Hey squash! Cry baby! Over here!" Causing the squash to turn in their direction. But luckily, Mabel hit the squash hard on it's top, not splitting it open, but slightly cracking it. The thing whimpered and ran off into the woods.

"So what was that about?" Dipper asked Jeff, gaze still fixed on the spot where the veggie had run into the woods.

"You see, a long time ago, us gnomes and the fairies didn't exactly get along. We tried REALLY hard to make them see our side of things, but they didn't listen. Then, we managed to create a peace treaty to avoid a forest war." He paused here to inhale some air, and it was a miracle that the little guy had managed to talk as long as he did. "So a few years later, we a best friends with the fairies. Real nice to them. So we ask for some sort of transport, because look at these things." Jeff motioned to his legs. "Not exactly made for running around. So the fairies decided to give us a transport, and we got these things. Most of the time, they're obedient, but every once in a while one gets loose." Jeff finished, bowing as if waiting for an applause.

"Weell that was a nice story and all, but we're sort of lost. Could you direct us to a landmark or a road?" Dipper said, mentally storing the story in his head for when he got a chance to write it down in Journal 3.

"Sure!" Jeff said, and pointed to the left. "There's a hollow, metal tree a few yards from here. To west of it, and you should get back to your home. Until then, thank you!" He said, sauntering off again.

"Wait!" Dipper called out, not wanting their only guide of the forest to leave them. Unfortunately, he was already gone. Sighing, he turned towards the direction he pointed them to, and started to head through the brush once more, Mabel following close behind.

"Dipper, are you so sure about this?" Mabel asked, stick still in hand.

"Mabel, what else are we going to do? We're alone, Soos is gone, heck, we haven't even found-"

OINK!

"WADDLES!" Mabel yelled, and charged in front of Dipper beating him to a large, circular tree. He rapped his knuckles on the side of the "tree" producing a dull, metal tone. "Waddles where are you?!" Mabel yelled again.

OOIINK!

"That sounded like it was coming from-" Mabel started, Dipper joining her in finishin. Her sentence.

"Inside the tree!" Dipper circled around the tree, and said to Mabel,

"There's an entrance! Help me pull it open!" And began to pull on a small bar sticking out of the "tree." It groaned with age, but once opened it revealed a squealing, pink pig.

"WADDLES!" Mabel screamed as she ran up to her pig. Waddles jumped up into her arms, and Mabel rubbed her cheek affectionately against his. Dipper couldn't help but smile, but it quickly disappeared.

"How did he get out here? Who could have trapped him?" He pondered, but his thoughts were interrupted by,

"Hey dudes!" Out of the trees emerged the handyman in the flesh.

"SOOS!"

**WKDW'V QRW VRRV!**


	4. Copy Cat!

**Four reviews. You guys gave me four reviews! Thanks so much! I had somehow convinced myself that the second I posted this everyone would hate me. But you guys said you liked it! Anyway, sorry I didn't post a new chapter of this yesterday, I started an Ask the Author story, where you can ask me or any of the Gravity Falls characters questions. But enough advertising! Let's get back to that story. Plus, this chapter is a little longer for not writing yesterday.**

**PS: FALLER AND THEKAWAIIFAN DECODED THE CIPHER YESTERDAY! I'm not writing them for nothing!**

* * *

"Soos, what are you doing here?! How did you manage to find us?!" Dipper asked, skeptically.

"Chill out, dudes. I just followed the magical squash! It was crying and everything!" With that comment, Mabel reached her hand up to scratch her neck/hair. She obviously felt a little guilty over hurting the vegetable-thing. "And I know how to get back!" Dipper's head immediately perked up.

"You do?! That's great!" He exclaimed, relieved that it wasn't him that had to get them both home.

"Yeah, being slow has its advantages. Hey! Mabel, you found your pig!" Soos said, noticing the new member of the party. He reached down to pat, Waddles, when,

SMACK!

"AAHH! Soos yelled, running around in circles pressinpaths palm of his hand against his cheek, which was now red from the kick of a pig leg.

"Waddles! Why would you do that?! It's just Soos, it's fine." Mabel said, letting him reassuringly yet reprimandingly on the head.

"I'm okay, dudes. Check it out, now it looks like I got a punch to the face in a fight!"

"Good. It is under control." Mabel said, gesturing towards Waddles, who had a look of pure innocence on his chubby pig face.

"We can get some ice from the Shack. Let's hurry back! This forest doesn't feel... normal." Mabel looked at him strangely.

"Dude, that's every forest. Hey, want to stop for snacks on the way there? My treat."

"Sure!" The twins exclaimed, as they began to head to the directions Soos was walking, following him close behind.

Right after they left, the bushes began to shake on the opposite side of the metal tree. Soos then emerged, calling out,

"Hello? Dipper? Mabel? Anyone?" He then exited through the shrubs on the northern side. Just after that was a much stranger, double voice.

_"This is beautiful! Oh, the looks on their faces! They have no idea!" _The voice paused for a second, as if in hesitation, then said almost sadly, _"But I need them alive... time to go "find" some mirrors!" _The voice said, much more cheerfully. _"Snacks. I'll have to remember that one!"_

**About an hour later...**

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Dipper asked, scratching his hat subconsciously.

"Sure! Almost there!" Soos said, maybe a bit too enthusiastically.

"You've been saying that for ten minutes!" Dipper argued back. Mabel was trailing behind because she was watching the butterflies and attending to Waddles. He reached into his vest to pull out his journal to read, as he usually did when he was bored. Mabel caught up, and asked Dipper,

"What did he say?" Dipper looked up from his book, surprised at what Mabel had said. He didn't think she was listening. She picked Waddles off of the ground and waited for his response.

"The same thing. Almost." Dipper said, shrugging it off and returning to his book.

"Don't you think something's off? Remember what happened last time we were with Soos on an adventure?" Dipper's eyebrow's fumbled together in confusion. Putting Journal 3 back into his vest where it belonged, he looked up at her and asked,

"What? When?" He said, very confused. Mabel responded with her own question:

"In Stan's mind remember?" This only made Dipper more confused.

"The Dreamscape?" He asked, remembering the events of that day.

"Yeah! You remember what happened then, right?" Mabel asked, trying to jog his memory.

"...I'm...not...sure..." Dipper said, struggling to think of a time when Soos had done something strange. Well, other than his usual strangeness.

"Wait, you weren't there!"

"Did I miss something important?"

"Yeah! Soos was with us, and we found the memory of the safe code. I was going to chop it like a ninja." Mabel stopped and made chopping noises and motions with her arms. "And he said he would break it. Then it floated into the air, and the real Soos came in!" Dipper interrupted her before she could get any further with a resounding,

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, it was weird. But then it turned out to be the Triangle Guy all along!"

"You mean Bill?" Dipper said, chills running down his spine. Bill defied everything he had ever known about the supernatural. That and the close encounter with a dream demon had rubbed him the wrong way. Which means he was kind of- not really though!, scared of him. "Wait, are you saying that-"

"Exactly." Dipper had thought Bill was just a polymorph. A creature that could change of alter it's appearance slightly depending on it's mood. A shapeshifter was much more dangerous. And creepy.

"...You only got this one because I didn't know about it." He said, letting Mabel have her small victory. She smiled so wide every inch of her braces were showing, and she began to chant,

"ALPHA TWIN! ALPHA TWIN!" Dipper half-heartedly joined in,

"Alpha twin, alpha twin." Then, Mabel set Waddles down. It was amazing she could hold him up so long!

By the time they were done with their discussion, Dipper looked around. They were in a small clearing, but it was difficult to see. The trees blocked out all of the sunlight.

"Soos?" Mabel asked, but there was no reply. The Pines twins held onto each other as other noises instead. Hissing and scratching were slightly echoing in the clearing. The ferns on the ground began to rustle, and they parted way to reveal-

A small, black cat.

Mabel immediately gained the "AAAWWW!" expression on her face and ran up to it, petting it's ears, Waddles following. Strangely though, no purring. Dipper looked around, and said,

"Mabel, is now the time to play with animals?" Dipper asked, slightly annoyed by his sibling.

"Dipper, it's always time to pet cute kittens!" Then, the thing began growling slightly. Mabel stopped petting it, and backed away slowly, Waddles behind her. Slowly, an entire group of black cats gathered behind the first one, and stared at them.

"What's going on?" Mabel asked Dipper in a quiet, whispering tone. Then Soos came back into the clearing, still quiet. The silence was unnerving.

"...So-!" Dipper started to ask, but got caught off guard and stumbled backwards and "Soos" snarled at him.

Then the freaky part began to happen.

The cats began to grow larger than the twins, showing definite muscle and as much dexterity as a lion. "Soos" went through other changes, but mainly slimmed down, grew taller, and became hairy enough to look like a black Bigfoot. Long, white fangs extended from their jaws, giving them a werewolf-like appearance. Clearly these things could change shape or form at will, but did so for.. other methods.

Before anything else could happen, Dipper rushed to open the book to see of anything was inside about these creatures. On page 67, there was a bio on a creature looking almost exactly identical to the ones in front of them now. As quickly as he could, Dipper began to read.

**COPY CATS:**

_These fierce beasts are the feline equivalent of werewolves, with increased muscle and strength. However, they are much more dangerous than their dog-like counterparts. They can communicate and mimic any human being they have seen or heard. Other animals hate them and will attack on sight. They use their fierce agility and masterful disguises to lure prey into their den of shelter. They mainly lead away lost children or explorers; no one comes to look for them. _

_Strengths: Super speed, shapeshifting, super strength, human speech_

_Weaknesses: NO KNOWN WEAKNESSES_

_Advise: Run as far away as possible! Never get surrounded by a group!_

Dipper slammed the book shut with a few drops of sweat going down his forehead. How could he protect Mabel? He advanced slightly, getting in front of her. It was evident by the look on her face that she was terrified, and she picked up Waddles, holding him in her arms. They tried backing up, but quickly found they were completely surrounded. The Copy Cats began to advance, and one pounced straight at Dipper-

SMASH!

A cascade of glittering fragments fell from the sky, tearing open a hole in the dense brush, letting the light in. The creatures snarled, and backed away from the light. Some of the fragments were imbedded in the skin of the creatures, but surprisingly none in or on Dipper and Mabel. Both of the them shifted their gaze to the sky, only to see nothing but the rich blue.

"Mabel! They don't like light! They must be weak to it in their true form!" Dipper said, looking at the various reactions of the Copy Cats. Some were hissing, and others were slightly smoking, as if the light burned them.

"But it's only in the center! If we try to walk out, we'll be cat food!" Mabel paused for a second, and then said, "That's what he meant by "stopping for snacks!" We were the snacks!"

"Well, we're not on the menu today!" Dipper exclaimed, examining what had fallen and broken the tree canopy. He thought it was glass, but it was actually-

"Mirror shards! Mabel, pick up the biggest piece you can find!" He exclaimed, ideas catching on like wildfire. If they could reflect the light, they had a weapon! Mabel ran over to the pile, all the while guarding Waddles, and was careful to pull two long, narrow mirror strips from the pile. She jogged back over to Dipper, which she in turn handed a piece to.

"It's kind of like fighting the wax figures! It will work like fire on them! Just reflect the light back at them!" Dipper announced to Mabel, who was already experimenting. They carefully began to pull out of the circle, using the light to guide them. Mabel made sure to bring Waddles in front.

One Copy Cat tried to lunge at them, but Dipper quickly reflected light into it's eyes. It began to shriek, and ran back to the pack. Dipper made a note to edit the journal, again, with the weaknesses, putting a special note down for the eyes. They finally reached the edge of the plants, and swiftly ran out into the forest. Mabel picked up Waddles once more, and the three ran like there was no tomorrow.

Finally, a safe distance away, Dipper sat down on a convenient rock, while Mabel sat on the ground, absent-mindedly playing with Waddles' ear.

"Now what do we do?" Mabel asked Dipper, eyes filled with concern. "I'm hungry and tired. We'll never get home."

"We'll find something out, Mabel." Dipper said, trying to encourage a little hope, though he knew she was right. How did Waddles even get out here in the first place? While Dipper thought, he heard something through strained ears.

"-llo? Dipper? Mabel? Dudes, where are you?" The twins jumped up, hardly believing their luck. Could it be real this time? Mabel ran first, Waddles trailing behind. Then, Dipper ran after her, but more slowly. He was tired from all the running today.

They were greeted with the happy, smiling face of Soos. Mabel shined the mirror into his eyes, causing him to blink, and look over. Looking relieved, Soos ran to meet them.

"You dudes are okay! Group hug!" He said, but looked around. "I never know the right time.." He said to no one in particular. Dipper finally caught up, and upon seeing it was the real Soos, he said,

"Soos! Please *Pant* say that you *Pant* have some way *Pant* to get back?" Dipper asked, trying to catch his breath. Soos triumphantly held up a map, and Mabel cheered. Dipper smiled. They were going home.

**PDBEH L GRXOG XVH WKH VQDGN WKLQJ RQ D GRVLWLR...**


	5. Separate Ways, Different Paths

**I see you guys liked the Copy Cats! Yes, I did come up with them on my own, but anyone can borrow them for their own fics if they want to. I know I made a lot of typos on the last cipher, and I'm sorry about that. I'm currently making a decoder/coder for Caesar, Atabash, and A1Z26. Until then I'm doing it by memory. Well, lets pick up where we left off, eh?**

* * *

Not that much had really changed after Waddles had been returned. Except that Dipper was now obsessed on finding out where the mirror came from. Mabel had said they shouldn't question it, but he just couldn't ignore the supernatural! He had consulted his journal multiple times, but nothing about random mirrors falling from the sky was there. He sighed, and slumped onto the window that he was leaning against.

"Maybe Mabel's right. Maybe I am too obsessive over this. We shouldn't worry about the details." He said to himself, closing the book and setting it down on the cushion off the window seat. "It just feels like I'm right on top of the answer, but I don't know it!"

Mabel was probably somewhere around the shack. He got up, leaving Journal 3 on the seat in the window, and started walking downstairs when he heard,

"-ook it!" Dipper strained his ears slightly, and heard a proud voice in the hall. Wait, that's sounded like...

"Pacifica, I have no idea where it would be!" Mabel countered. They must be arguing over something again, Dipper presumed.

"Well someone took it!"

"Is it a small hand mirror?

"No! It's a giant mirror! It takes up the entire wall of my bathroom!"

"...if it's that big, why do you think someone stole it?"

"Because it's gone, and someone left me this!" Dipper heard a small shuffling noise, and an indignant "Hah!" sound.

"See!"

"I'm sorry, Pacifica, but I didn't write that."

"I don't believe you!" Dipper knew Mabel would never lie. Well, unless it was to protect someone.

"What's that? Oh, it sounds like Dipper needs me! I'll be going now!" She said, trying to end the pressure of being accused of theft.

"Mabel Pines, don't try to avoi-" Pacifica's voice was cut off by the slamming of a door, and a sigh from a frustrated Mabel. Dipper then finished his decent, but was now excited. If Pacifica was missing a giant mirror, maybe, just maybe it was the same one that crashed on them in the forest!

"Mabel!" He yelled out, and saw her wearing a purple sweater with a candy cane on it. Not that it mattered. She was holding something, maybe what Pacifica showed her? "Mabel, what's that?" She immediately stuffed it into her coat pocket, and said,

"Oh, hey Dipping-sauce! Finally decided to come down from the attic and play Spin the Pig?" She said, enthusiastically. Dipper remembered last time he played Spin the Pig. He very narrowly avoided having a pig as his first kiss.

"That was Pacifica, right?" He asked, trying to start off simple. Mabel shifted slightly, looking uncomfortable.

"Yeah. How much did you hear?" She asked with uncertainty in her eyes. This was very strange for Mabel!

"A lot. The part about the mirror. So she thinks you took it?" He asked, trying to sound cool, like in a mystery movie. What he got was a complete surprise.

"Dipper, I've been framed! I would never steal! Even from Pacifica!" She suddenly shouted, upset clouding her words.

"I never said I thought you did." He said, holding his hands up, as if declaring that he was innocent. Mabel scratched the back of her head apologetically.

"Sorry, bro. She gave me this, and said that it was all she needed to know it was me." She said, and withdrew piece of paper from her back pocket. It was badly crumpled, but Dipper unfurled it, and read:

**Thanks for the mirror! IOU 1- P.**

"Mabel! Obviously Pacifica made this! You don't write like this! If you wrote it, no one would be able to read it." Mabel's handwriting was practically chicken scratch. "The real thing we should be doing is investigating! This could be the break in the case!"

"Dipper, I told you you need to let this go! It's not healthy to be obsessed over one little thing. Makes you go crazy!" Mabel said, making the craziest, face that was possible.

"But-"

"No buts!" Mabel said, interjecting again. "Now go get cleaned up or something, Stan's taking us to the diner, and your breath is really gross!" She then ran off to an obscure, unimportant place, leaving Dipper in the hall with the note in his hand. He was so confused. Usually Mabel was backing him up, and wanted to join him. What was wrong with him? With a heavy heart, he headed upstairs, not hearing the conversation in the kitchen.

"Trust me, it's for the best kid. Old man's experience."

"But he was so crushed Grunkle Stan!"

"When life gives you a problem you don't understand, ignore it. Learned that the hard way."

"O-okay.."

* * *

Dipper was in the bathroom upstairs, thinking aloud. Not a very good habit, but one he had always had.

"So she doesn't care, huh? We're the Mystery Twins! That's what we do best!" He exclaimed, annoyed. He picked up his toothbrush, and smeared on some cheap cinnamon flavored toothpaste that was flavorless. "Well, fine! I'll solve this on my own! Then Mabel will have to admit that I'm right!" He said, waving the toothbrush in front of his reflection like a wand. He slung it so hard that a giant glop of the brownish toothpaste landed straight in the center of the mirror.

Dipper took one of the washcloths out of the cabinet, and tried wiping it off. It only smeared on the surface, taunting him even more. He rubbed harder, but no avail. It only smudged more and more the he rubbed. Out of fury, he hit the mirror as hard as he could in his washcloth covered hand. The mirror then fell off of whatever was holding it up, and crashed to the floor. Dipper immediately ducked down, terrified.

But it wasn't the mirror that scared Dipper. No, it was the hole in the wall descending out of the shack that scared him. A gaping hole leading into darkness had been behind the bathroom mirror all along! He knew it! Something was up with the mirrors in this town, and Mabel had scoffed at him. He slightly shivered from the cold leaking out of the wall before glancing down at the mirror. It wasn't broken, and could probably still conceal the tunnel...

In those few minutes, Dipper picked up the mirror, and hoisted himself inside the small tunnel, and put the mirror over his only other source of light. He was going to prove to Mabel that he wasn't crazy!

...Was that what he was trying to prove?

* * *

Mabel had decided to give Dipper some time to himself to think. She didn't want to make him upset at her as much as he already was. So she decided to visit Candy and Greta, or at least figure out what they were up to. She started walking out of the door of the shack, when a tall, lean teen called attention to herself from behind the register.

"What are you doing?" Wendy asked, bored. She must have been at that counter all day! Mabel shuddered at the thought of doing absolutely nothing all day.

"Going to find my friends. Girl's night out!" Mabel cheered.

"You do know it's day, right?" Mabel looked at the closest window. Yep, still day.

"Minor correction!" She announced. "Girl's day out!" She finished, and almost go to the door before,

"Can you do me a favor?" Wendy asked, keeping her extremely bored look up.

"Sure! What do you need?" Mabel asked, happy to help. But Wendy's request surprised her.

"Here's ten bucks. Can you go buy me the heaviest bat you can find?"

"Umm... sure. Why do you need a bat?"

"I'm not going to explain that." Wendy said, leaning her chair against the shack wall that had so many indents of her leaning back previously. She crossed her ankles and put her feet on the counter. Somehow, this made her look a lot less, well, teenager-y. Mabel blinked twice, but then smiled widely, and said,

"Okay! Bye!" Right before she stepped off got the porch, she heard her yell,

"Keep the change!" Mabel paused, but then shrugged. In reality, that wasn't Wendy's money. But whose it was and why she needed what it bought were a mystery of it's own.

**ZHQGB, MXVW GRQ'W SODB EDVHEDOO ZLWK YDPSLUHV!**


	6. Legacy

**Sorry I didn't update for a while. I was going to, but fell asleep. Anyways, glad to see you got the Twilight reference last chapter. Who knows? I might throw a few vampires in there. Or some other things... Well, time to continue the story!**

* * *

Dipper tried crawling through as quietly as possible. Who knew what could be down here? The tunnel was scooped out of dirt, and the walls were slightly damp. It had rained pretty heavily only a few days ago, so this was normal. Unfortunately, in his haste to explore, Dipper had closed off his one and only source of light.

"There has to be something around here..." Dipper mumbled to himself, feeling the walls around him. Nothing except for dirt and small stones. Dipper felt the back of the mirror, and turned back around. He would have to go through virtually blind. He began to hug the right wall with his hand, never leaving in case there was a fork in the tunnel.

CLUNK.

Dipper's hand then hit something hard and metallic. Whatever it was, it felt about the size of his head. It might be useful later, or something. So Dipper ended up in a tunnel dragging a large metal object behind him in the dark through wet mud. When he could finally stand up again, he was careful of to hit his head. His suspicions were confirmed, the tunnel grew bigger the longer he went down it.

What was a tunnel even doing in the Mystery Shack? He knew that it was certainly own old building filled with surprises, but what purpose did a tunnel serve? And where did it lead? He just wanted some answers. Was that so hard to ask? Then, remembering the thing he carried/dragged here with him, he picked it up. It felt grimy and cold in his grasp, but he thought he knew what it was.

A lantern.

It must have been down here a long time, judging on its condition. He could feel grooves in it, indicating some sort of pattern on the metal. The question was, how to turn it on? Dipper flipped it over, and felt a clear surface, before his finger slipped and ran against a jagged piece of broken glass.

"OWWW!" He exclaimed, but remembered that he was on his own quest now, and had to be brave. He wiped the blood from his now bleeding, hurting and red finger on his shorts. Being a bit more careful this time, with his left hand, he felt down the side of the lantern. Then, he felt a hard, deeply grooved piece of metal jutting out from the side. He gave it a small turn.

CLICK

FWOOSH!

Light flooded the small tunnel as two metal gears grind together, producing a small spark that was flicked to a candle on the inside of the lantern. He looked down at his clothes, which were covered with mud, and ran his hand over his hat, checking the familiarities of his surroundings. It seemed that the structure of the tunnel was being held up by wooden support frames, though they seemed to be rotting, slowly destroying the very foundation of the tunnel. Further ahead he could see stone and bricks pulled together, perhaps marking an end to the tunnel.

He began to walk further through the tunnel, now accompanied by light and sight once more. The lantern itself had strange patterns, but no true pictures. Just decorations. Dipper looked around, in awe that someone would spend enough time and devotion to hollow out such a long tunnel. He had now reached the stone part of the tunnel. Looking around, he saw spider webs, and metal brackets on the wall. In the brackets he supposed torches would go, giving off enough light to see while remaining temporary. His guess was confirmed when he saw a burned stump of wood on the ground beside an outwardly pushed brick.

He stopped when he thought he saw some writing on the wall, maybe an inscription! Curiously, he leaned forward, excited. It did appear to be some kind of writing, but it was either in code or in another language he didn't know. Sighing, he turned around-

And came face-to-face with a skull.

Dipper jumped back, scared, and in his haste, dropped the lantern, extinguishing it's warm glow. The skull hadn't appeared to be human, since it had horns, but it was still terrifying. Making sure he didn't look back, he carefully picked up the lantern again and resumed walking down the tunnel, but this time he could see a faint, blue glow. He quickly jogged to the light, growing brighter every step closer. When he was right beside it, he could see that it was a door.

Cheerful he knew his long walk and muddy attire weren't for nothing, he glanced over it. Something was written on it, causing the glowing. There didn't appear to be a handle. Dipper started to read the inscription:

_To pass, you must state your mission_

_Maybe it is the key, maybe it is your passion_

_ Matter not, for if you get it wrong_

_You didn't have to be here long_

_However, if you are right_

_The answer may be written in spite_

_It caused many conflicts, and battles to be won_

_A legacy that cannot be undone_

He grew more and more excited as he read. Finally! A puzzle! But what did it mean? Hmm... what was his mission? To prove what? What would be spiteful to people? Himself? The door seemed to want his reason, but clearly it was made with the same answer built into it. Maybe a key word? It was the final piece that caught his eye, though. A legacy. What was his legacy? Would that mean his family? But what did his family all share in comm-

"Oh." He said, understanding the riddle. His legacy was the very reason he was down here. His goal, his mission was to find the supernatural. If it wasn't for his family, he couldn't do that. It wanted his legacy, his name. But not just his name, no, the universal name for everyone in his family.

"Pines." He spoke, loud and clear. It seemed to echo off the stone bricks. For a second, he was worried that be had missed the point of the riddle. But then the door groaned, and unlocked from the other side. "Yes!" He said triumphantly, and pushed the door open even further.

Inside there was more than Dipper had ever hoped for.

Detailed charts littered the walls, but not creepy ones like from the shack that Mabel had found. No, these explained the location of various creature, all listed as correct in his journal! Dipper's eyes widened as he came to the realization that he left his journal in the attic. His stomach churned slightly, but he managed to brush it off. Maybe no one had found it. Everything was okay, he assured himself. He turned back to examining the room.

A plush, red cushioned chair sat in the corner, facing a writing desk. Dipper carefully moved over to the desk, noticing many papers and books scattered around. It looked like a study, but someone clearly hadn't come in here in decades. The wallpaper that adorned the room was fading and outdated, and spider webs and dust coated everything.

Dipper glanced around before sitting down in the chair, and pushed some sketches aside. One was of a multi-bear, and it made Dipper smile. It was because it looked happy, and it's many faces were smiling. He made a note to go and talk to him soon, because it must get lonely up in the caves. What was behind the papers was most curious, though. It looked like a normal wire-wrong journal, with lined paper and everything. It wasn't dated, but it seemed older than Dipper. He flipped open the cover of the book, and saw inscribed on the inner cover,

"Property of Stanley Pines."

**GLSSHU VHHPV WR KDYH IRXQG VWDQ'V OLWWOH VHFUHW!**


	7. The Northwest Household

**I'm really sorry it took so long for me to update! School got in the way, and I hit a minor writer's block thinking up this chapter. Nevertheless, it's here! **

* * *

"Mabel, what are we doing here?" Candy asked, fidgeting slightly. "The Northwests have very high security-"

"C'mon, girls! All we have to do is prove Pacifica wrong, and then everything's alright! Dipper stops acting weird, and I don't have to worry about Pacifica, it's a win-win!" Mabel reasoned, as Grenda hoisted them both over the wall. Unfortunately, Candy had chosen today to put on her fork fingers again.

"I'm stuck!" She exclaimed, as her fingers got caught between the cracks of the bricks. Slowly, the tape holding the forks to her fingers slid, and she fell in the dirt.

"CANDY!" Grenda bellowed, and both her and Mabel rushed forward. Candy rubbed her head with her now bare fingers.

"I'm alright. A little bruised, but pretty good, I guess." She said, as her two friends lifted her up, each grabbing an arm. Mabel was worried, but she turned her attention towards the Northwest household. It was a two story house, three including the attic, with a large front porch, an enormous enclosed backyard. There were windows on each side, making the house semetrical.

"So how do we get in?" Candy asked, readjusting her glasses as she noticed Mabel's gaze at the house.

"Simple, we ring the doorbell." Mabel said, as if the answer was obvious.

"THEN WHY DID WE GO OVER THE WALL?" Grenda asked, confused.

"To get the spy feels! Operation Crackersnap is go!"

* * *

RING. RING. RING. RING... RING.

"I don't think anyone's home..." Candy said, standing on the porch.

"ALL THIS WAITING IS MAKING ME MAD!" Grenda exclaimed, punching one hand into the palm of the other for emphasis. Mabel kept ringing the doorbell.

RING. RING. RING.

"ARGH!" Grenda screamed in frustration.

SMASH!

The window next to the door shattered as Grenda's huge fist went straight through it. No alarms went off, though. Mabel sidestepped through, avoiding the broken glass, and said,

"We're in!" As Candy soon followed. Grenda knocked more glass out of the window as she stepped through, but she didn't pay any attention to it. The three examined the inside of the building. It was lavishly decorated, but gathering a bit of dust. Drapes and thick carpet matted the floors and walls, giving the building a suffocated feel. Paintings of people, most likely Northwest ancestors, lined up on the wall. Most of the tables in the room were crowded by official-looking documents. Overall, it looked just like you'd expect a high middle class family home to look.

Mabel tiptoed around, acting like a ninja by making poses to hide behind random bit of furniture sometimes. She whispered to the others,

"Split up. We can cover more ground."

"Why are we whispering?" Candy asked.

"I don't really know!" Mabel exclaimed as she slunk off into a room. Candy shrugged and headed upstairs. Grenda headed into a room that was probably the kitchen.

Mabel looked around, and saw she had entered a bathroom. Most likely a guest one, but Pacifica could use it. The mirror was still intact. Mabel wrinkled her nose slightly. "Is that...wood chips?" She said to herself, noticing the smell. A weird smell for a bathroom air freshened to have, she noted as she saw a small cylindrical object that was brown on a shelf where the towels were. She closed the door behind her as she left the room.

Grenda had entered the kitchen, as a matter of a fact. There were all types of name brand food products, and lots of snacks. Gummi Koalas, S'moreos, and Ducktective crackers being some of them. She smiled, and realized that she was hungry. So of course, she naturally helped herself to one. Or two. Or four. Actually she lost count. But by the time she was done, there were no more S'moreos or Gummi Koalas, and just crumbs remained of the Ductective crackers. Before she could get anymore, she heard Candy say,

"Everyone! Come here!"

Mabel heard Candy too, and both her and Grenda rushed up the banister.

"IS SOMETHING WRONG?" Grenda asked slamming a door open, looking for Candy. Inside, though, was far from wrong. Candy had picked a long, purple boa from a room that seemed to be an entire closet.

"Do you know what this means?" She asked excitedly. The other girls looked around, and then all said simultainiously,

"DRESS UP!"

Commence fashion show.

* * *

After a LONG time, and a lot of clothes had been taken off of their hangers, the trio was laying in a pile of clothes. Candy was examining some shades she thought were great, as she and Grenda talked. Mabel had been trying on a big, puffy purple coat when she suddenly remembered Operation Crackersnap.

"Peoples! What are we doing?!" Mabel said, realizing how carried away they had gotten. Candy and Grenda's eyes widened as they remembered exactly why they were here in the first place, and where they were. They hurriedly sat up as Mabel dashed out the door.

"Wait!" Candy called out. Mabel's head poked out from the door.

"What's wrong?" She asked. Candy picked the shades up, and said,

"Can I keep these? Pacifica has so many, she won't notice one missing..." Candy reasoned. Mabel debated this in her head for a second. For one, stealing was wrong. However, this was Pacifica...

"Okay! Let's get going!" Mabel said, disappearing behind the door again. They went to the final room they hadn't gone to yet. Luckily, it was the very room they were searching for. Unluckily, something was missing...

"The mirror's gone!" Mabel exclaimed, eyes widening. "Nonononononono! How am I going to prove to Pacifica I didn't write that note?! And Dipper...!" She trailed off, letting her overactive mind work out the rest. She nervously walked into another room, hoping that it was hidden somewhere. However, she was greeted with royal purple walls, and a rich room decorated appropriately for the "most popular" girl in town. Pacifica's bedroom.

Mabel's eyes scanned the room as she pulled open drawers, cabinets, even things that couldn't contain a mirror the size of the one missing from the bedroom. Candy and Grenda soon followed. When they were inside, Mabel opened a closet, and was confronted with a much bigger suprise.

Tens, maybe hundreds of stuffed llamas were inside. "Llamalanche!" Mabel cried as they all fell on top of her.

"Mabel!" Candy cried as they fell. Grenda furiously dug, and quickly got Mabel out.

"So...fluffy..." She said as Grenda pulled her out.

"THAT'S A LOT OF FURRY HORSES!" Grenda said. Fortunately, neither Mabel nor Candy corrected her term usage. Mabel sighed, as she lay flat on her back, looking up. On the wall was a dart board with Mabel's picture on it. Strangley, none had hit her.

"There's nothing here but a bunch of llamas. We came here for nothing. I guess Pacifica won again..." She said in a flat tone, also trailing off at the end. Grenda's face boiled, as she said,

"IT MAKES ME SO MAD! SHE ALWAYS WINS!" Grenda said, her fist hitting the floorboard in frustration.

SMASH!

The floorboard Grenda punched flew into the air, hitting the ceiling. But that wasn't what was so special about the missing floorboard. With it gone, it revealed a secret compartment. The floorboard must have already been loose. Inside were papers, furiously scribbled on. Mabel moved closer to the hole in the floor, and picked up a few of the pages.

"These look like they came from Dipper's book!" Mabel exclaimed, noticing the familiar scrawl. On each page were words spelled out in gibberish, some having little check marks beside them, others having tiny X's. Some words included:

"Igneum globum!" This one had a little check beside it.

"Arbores tuas et erubescant." This had a tiny x beside it.

"Glacialis Ventus egredere!" This one also had a check beside it.

"Mortem: Solvite ambitus vitae communicavimus" This one was marked out completely, with a side note, DO NOT USE! However, the strangest one by far was circled in purple ink, most likely marked by Pacifica.

"Virtus Altíssimi vocare triangulum. Irritandum mentis interitum quæro!" There was a small image of an eye beside it, but other than that the only remarkable thing about it was that it was the longest out of a very long list. Mabel scratched the top of her head, confused.

"Wow, didn't know Pacifica was into weird mystic-y things. Maybe I should give this to Dipper! Maybe this wasn't a total bust after all!" She finished, folding the paper in half, then in half again. "Let's g-" Mabel was cut off by a scream. Grenda and Candy's heads perked up. They knew that scream all too well.

"MOM! The window's broken! Burglars must be in the house!" Pacifica!

Mabel quickly looked around for an escape. She noticed the window, and said, "We'll have to go out like spies! Remember: Be careful!" Mabel said to the other two as she opened the window.

* * *

Pacifica burst into her room. Drawers and cabinets lay scattered around, clothes and bit of jewelry were everywhere. But she quickly noticed the uprooted floorboard..

"WHAT?! Someone stole them!" She yelled. The curtains beside her windows fluttered with the wind, and Pacifica dashed over to see if the thieves were making a getaway. The yard was completely empty. Well, not really. Pacifica just missed a hand pluck the final fork from over the wall.

**WKRVH WRWDOOB ZHUHQ'W PBVWLFDO VSHHOV...**


	8. Relative or No?

**Yes, another update! I'm trying to make up for lost time, seeing as the last chapter took so long to write. Enjoy!**

* * *

Dipper turned the page, confused. He hasn't heard of a "Stanley Pines." Was this another relative? Did Grunkle Stan know who he was? Stan only had an older brother, their grandfather, but he had passed on, and his name definitely wasn't Stanley. This was beginning to feel more and more like one of his mystery novels. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing, though. With questions filing his mind rapidly, Dipper began to read the first article in the journal.

_April 1, 1988_

_Today is April Fool's Day. It's got a twist of irony to it, because now I'm fooling the entire town. I'm supposed to be here studying climate changes and their effects on the residents of Gravity Falls, but something much, much more is here. I suspected it the first time I came here to visit my Great Aunt with my brother. Inlaid in this town is more than science math arithmetic could dare story to explain! Creatures of strange origins, living myths and legends, all seem to coexist here, without anyone noticing! Well, almost everyone. A man named Hector claims to see these creatures as well. His testimony will help prove that this is no joke, especially for today. We will both document our discoveries, mine being the simpler rough draft, and Hector's being the official draft. _

_If we could only show the world what possibilities lie here, we could solve so much! But, as people will be, they demand proof to see if something like magic, (not the cheesy magic in movies or cartoons, mind you. True, powerful magic) exists in our world, and we haven't discovered it yet. I ordered a hefty weather vane and some technological instruments to keep my cover, but only the reader of this book and will know my true purpose here. Luckily, the local police don't appear to be that bright, or caring in that matter. I'm not complaining, it makes my job easier. It will take determination, but I believe I can uncover everything this town has to offer. I will leave no stone unturned, no technique untried. I will solve every mystery in Gravity Falls. It's gnawing at me from the inside, I feel so alone-_

The page went on for much longer, and some illustrations were scribbled on the side. Dipper wanted to keep reading, but it was like reading a mystery novel. You have to stop and take notes occasionally, or you get caught up in the mystery and overlook the obvious. He had to sort out what he knew from what he didn't know. He skimmed back over the small section again.

For one, Stanley must have had a job or something to keep him here. When he mentioned he was supposed to be studying climate changes and their effects on the residents. He must have had some kind of prior knowledge of weather patterns and social effects to be assigned a job like this. Most likely, Dipper reasoned, to go to college.

Secondly, he mentioned coming here to visit his Great Aunt with his brother. His brother... that couldn't mean Grunkle Stan, could it? Dipper thought hard for a second. Why would Stan keep a family member such a secret? Maybe it wasn't Stan that Stanley mentioned- no, that's just crazy! Their names both start with the same first syllable. Then again, families sometimes do that. But if he was his brother, would Stan keep him a secret? Before he noticed it, the words slipped from his mouth,

"What are you hiding?" It broke the silver silence lacing the room. Dipper looked around as if there had been someone to hear him talk. The room was still empty. Back to analysis, then.

Thirdly, Stanley mentioned help from a "Hector." No last name was mentioned, though. Perhaps he had just met the man? Also, they said they were constructing a documentation of their findings. That couldn't mean... the journals, could it?! If so, then this "Hector" had written up the journals. He thought about 3, which he had left back at the Shack. What could have happened to the writers? 3 wasn't finished, so it was never presented. It was like both of them had just vanished.

Finally, he didn't know why, but it left an impression on his mind. "_But, as people will be, they demand proof to see if something like magic __exists in our world, and we haven't discovered it_ _yet_." It sounded almost exactly like what he had tried to prove. When Mabel had replaced Stan while he went on "vacation", he had tried to prove to people that magic was real, but it only ended in disaster. Had the same thing happened with him?

Dipper closed the book of notes, sighing slightly. Everything was so complicated here! He now had to make a decision: take the notes and risk getting caught or losing them, or he could leave them here and come back later to read some more. He decided on the later, and got up. He had a long walk back.

* * *

Dipper pushed against the hard back of the bathroom mirror as it slid away again, before he slipped it back into place. His clothes were a mess, what was he going to do? He barely washed them as is. He patted some soil off of his hat, and looked at himself in the mirror. He yawned, realizing how tired he was. Hopefully Mabel was downstairs or somewhere. He wanted to make up for the fight earlier.

He opened the bathroom door, and headed up to the attic. He glanced around, looking for Mabel, but no sign of her. Shrugging it off, Dipper headed back to the window seat he usually sat in, but stopped at a terrifying sight. Or rather, the lack of a sight.

His heart skipped a beat.

3 was gone.

**GRQ'W WUXVW JUXQNOH VWDQ...**


	9. Sibling Competition

**Sorry it took so long to update again. School, life, patience, and many other things attributed to this. Oh, a fellow writer named Janus-Ekat Writer is making a cover for this story, so you can check out the rough draft on deviantART. Seriously, it's really good, and she's working really hard on it. PS: Really excited for the shorts that premiere tonight! I've already seen Candy Monster, it was free early on iTunes, and it was great! I wonder what Stan's tatoo will be like. Anyways, onwards with my late chapter!**

* * *

Mabel gave Wendy her baseball bat. Candy and Grenda had left her at the store, leaving her enough time to go get it.

"Thanks!" Wendy said, putting it under the main counter. "I owe you one."

"No problem." Mabel said, brushing it off. "Have you seen Dipper?" She added at the end.

"Nope. Hasn't come down all day, now that you mention it." Wendy replied, and leaned her hair back, allowing her feet to rest on the counter. "Hey, me, Tambry, Nate, and Lee were all going to go roller skating later today. Wanna come?" She offered.

"Sure! I'll ask Dipper, I'm sure he'd love to go." Mabel said, walking into the back of the Shack to go find him. She felt a little less energetic today, but she was probably just tired.

She wasn't prepared for what she saw upstairs, though.

* * *

Dipper was freaking out. That's the simple explanation. The long explanation is that he had torn apart the attic, made an enormous list of places he'd been in the past week just to try to pinpoint its location, and was a nervous wreck.

Yep, freaking out.

"Dipper!" Mabel exclaimed, noticing the mess. "What ar-"

"It's gone!" He interrupted, crawling under his bed, only to get covered in dust and dirt.

"What is?" Mabel asked confusedly.

"Number 3! I left it right there-" He gestured towards the window seat. "and now it's gone! Could some creature have taken it? I guess a monster like the one we saw on Summerween could- no, that's ridiculous..." He said, going into out loud thinking.

"Mayb-" Mabel started, only for him to interrupt her.

"Or Soos could have moved it! No, he doesn't come up here that often, maybe Stan..? No.." He left off, still uncaring about Mabel. Maybe he hadn't see her come in?

"Wel-" She tried again, only for him to interrupt her yet again, patience growing thin, she sighed.

"Wait, that's it! A mons-" Mabel couldn't take it anymore. If he wasn't going to listen, she was going to make him listen.

"DIPPER!" Mabel yelled, interupting his thoughts, finally. He turned to listen, but had been unaware of her plight.

"What?"

"Why don't we just look for it, or ask around?" He stared at her for a second, before saying in a much softer tone,

"No, that's sil- wait, really? Why didn't I think of that?" Mabel was as just glad he had paid her some attention. The last time he got so hyped up about something was when he lost his study guide the night before a math test. So, she did what she normally did to help him.

"You're freaking out too much, bro. It's not like anything too dangerous is going on. It's not your lifeline, you don't need it."

"...Wow. Sorry, Mabel." Dipper said, blushing, now embarrassed. Was he really that much of a control freak?

"It's okay! What are sisters for?" Mabel said cheerfully.

"Awkward sibling hug?" He said, opening his arms for a hug.

"Awkward sibling hug." The Mystery Twins hugged it out, finishing with their trademark-

"PAT PAT."

"PAT PAT." They synchronized at the same time. When Mabel pushed away, she noticed something strange. Dirt and sand was on her once-clean sweater, and she looked at Dipper. Dipper was really dirty, and not the I-haven't-done-my-laundry-in-ten-days dirty. Like, being outside dirty.

"Why are you so muddy?" She asked him, to get a strange reaction.

"Oh- I- Um- Wendy, uh, wanted me to, um, take out the garbage! Yeah, and I fell. In the mud. Because I was outside." He was suddenly very nervous, but she didn't want to push it. But... hadn't Wendy said she hadn't seen him all day? She would bring this up later, maybe he would want to talk about it then. After all, twins don't keep secrets from each other, right?

Suprisingly, though, someone interupted her train of thought. The handyman himself, Soos, poked his head from the outside frame of the door. He glanced around inside, as if looking for something, and then saw the twins.

"Oh, hey dudes. I'm not, like, interupting anything, am I?" He asked, to which Dipper quickly replied,

"No, not at all! What is it?" He asked back at him.

"Oh, I was just wondering if you two had seen Stan around. He's been gone ever since this morning!"

_**Meanwhile in the convience store..**_

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave the pasta and other assorted food products here. Sir! Sir!" The register lady callled out as the con man made his escape.

"Try and catch me, lady!"

_**Back at the Shack...**_

"Huh. Wonder where he could have scampered off to." Mabel said, recollecting her meeting with him prior. "Ugh, all this thinking is hurting my brain!"

"Can you both go check around, make sure he hasn't fallen asleep somewhere or is watching the Baby Fights again?" Soos asked again. "Not to bother you, or anything."

"Sure! It'll only take a second anyway! Right, Dipper?" Mabel asked, turning to look back at him. He let out an exasperated sigh, and said,

"Sure. Not like we were doing anything, were we Mabel?" To that, she cheerfully smiled, and said,

"Nope! I'll check the kitchen, you check living room! Alpha twin finds him first!" That was it, he couldn't back down now.

"You're on!" He said, and they both made a mad dash for the stairs, almost knocking Soos off his feet.

Dipper checked the living room, eyes quickly skimming over the TV and weird, hopefully fake animal skull with the doily draped over it. He then ran to Stan's bedroom, only taking a quick glance. Time was of the essence! Mabel, however, had gone to the opposite side of the shack, looking into the kitchen. There, she only saw some spilled Fruit Rings. Then, she went to the store. Peering inside, she saw only Wendy, still in the same position as she left her, guarding the cash register. Getting an idea, she dashed to Soos' break room. Stan mentioned cleaning it up, right? And there was that time she was on a sugar high and had to stay in there. Yikes. Looking inside and seeing no one, she knew there was only one other place to look. Unfortunately, Dipper had the same idea.

Stan's office.

Both of them ran as fast as they could, and met each other the second they turned the corner of the wall. Dipper reached the door handle first, but Mabel's weight pushed the door open, leaving both of them in a pile in the middle of the door in an empty office.

"Mabel! Your knee is in my chest!" He exclaimed, trying to push his sister off of him. Huh, deja vu. Mabel got up, and looked around.

"Huh, I guess he's not here. Oh well, I'm Alpha Twin!" She exclaimed randomly.

"What?! He's not even here! How can you decide that?" He asked, brushing himself off. Not that helped, he was still pretty filthy.

"I've been in the office the longest, and it was the last room, so I win!" She said, making it sound obviously simple.

"We'll see about that! You haven't explored the whole office! He might be hiding!" Dipper said, clearly trying to buy his way out of losing.

"Oh yeah? Well.." Mabel trailed off, and began to rummage through his office, saying, "Not here, not here,..." And so on and so forth. In a silly attempt to beat Mabel at her own game, Dipper flipped through the calendar, then looked at the water cooler. Mabel went to his desk, and pulled out the drawer. There she saw a few paper clips, the boos guidebook, some duck tape, and-

"Dipper! I found your book!" Which made Dipper turn around, and gape at the journal in her hand.

"How did you find it?!"

"I don't know, Stan must have found it and thought it was some lost tourist guide or something." She said, tossing the book over to him. He caught it, and flipped it to the front.

Then, he gasped.

"MABEL, THIS IS BOOK 2!"

* * *

In a hard, cold place not that far from Gravity Falls, a certain chubby psychic was addressing the fellow prisoners. His white hair was unruly from being kept from sculpting gel, and he was wearing the trademark orange jumpsuit, too big for his small size, so it looked like more of a giant sweater/snuggie.

"Fellow inmates of Gravity Falls! It is time to rise up again! Y'all have been kept away from the world for too long! It is time for us to make our dreams of revenge true!" He said, trying not to blend his words so the crowd could hear him. He chuckled, to what eventually became a full out evil cackle. The prisoners cheered, over and over again,

"Gideon! Gideon! Gideon! Gideon!" So loud, it resounded through the prison.

Oh snap.

**Zhoo wkdw'v qlfh dqg doo Vkruwvwdfn, lw'v qrw olnh brx kdyh dqb rwkhu lvvxhv, olnh, rk, L grq'w nqrz, ghdov? Grq'w wklqn brx'uh jhwwlqj dzdb zlwk ehwudblqj ph, dqg qhlwkhu duh wkh Slqhv. Exw doo lq gxh wlph, dp L uljkw? -Eloo**


	10. The Perceiving Prism

**Hey everyone! Sorry about the late chapter, I was exhausted. Janus Ekat-Writer finished the cover! Go see her stories and check out her deviantART, she's really good. One last thing, I'm thinking about writing a creepypasta for Halloween. Thumbs up, thumbs down? Anyway, please review, it really helps my writing, and that's about it!**

* * *

"2?! How- Gideon has 2!" Mabel exclaimed, astonished.

"Well, how did it get here?" Dipper asked, "Surely it didn't just walk into the filing cabinet!"

"Maybe it did! You never know!" Mabel said, trying to cast away Dipper's blame and suspicion.

"This town isn't that strange! Mabel, I didn't really trust Stan to begin with. Maybe there's something he's not telling us." Dipper said, smarter than her efforts.

"Dipper! Shame on you! What would a boring old man like Stan want with one of those books anyway? Maybe he just saw Gideon drop it and stole it. You know, normal reasons."

"Still.."

"We can just ask him when we find him. I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation." Mabel finished.

"Really? You honestly trust him?" He asked.

"Really." Mabel said, but truthfully, she wasn't sure. Suddenly, Soos walked into the room. Dipper scrambled to hide 2 in his vest, out of plain sight.

"So, I checked the kitchen and the yard, and he wasn't there. The car's gone, though." Soos stated.

"I guess we're stuck here." Dipper said, "What do we do now?" As soon as he asked it, an idea sprang to his mind.

"Mabel! We can go through the book while he's gone! It's the perfect time!" With that said, Soos, who had been leaving, said,

"Go through what? You two find anything?" He questioned, looking back at them. Nervous, Dipper quickly came up with a distraction. Pointing to the window in the hallway, he said,

"Hey, look! A glowing green dot!" He said, hoping it would work.

"Where?!" Soos said, turning to look out the window, straining his eyes to see the non-existent green orb.

"It's out there, I saw it!" Mabel said, catching on. She must have said it with enough of her usual energy, luckily, and Soos took another look, then said,

"I'm coming, green dot! As he ran as fast as his legs could take him out of the door. Giving each other a high-five, Dipper and Mabel shut the door. Then, taking the newly discovered 2 out of his vest, Dipper placed the book down onto the floor. The twins laid down, each on one side of the book.

"Okay, so let's see what's in here..." Dipper trailed off, looking at the cover. Inside, written in the same curly handwriting, was 'Property of Hector McG'. Dipper noticed that the name was the same one he had read on the papers prior. He was about to tell this to Mabel, who was still right beside him, when he realized what that would mean. Should he tell her about the room, the documents, and the fact that there might have been another Pines?

_Trust no one..._

Maybe it should stay his little secret. For now, anyway. Moving on, he turned the pages again and again, and began to notice a few things. For one, this journal was much thicker. That was most likely because it was complete, but still. The difference was notable. Secondly, while Journal 3 had been more of a field guide to monsters, this was more of a list of supernatural and mystical items with their advantages and disadvantages listed. Demon caterpillars, blood rain, mystic amulets, something that looked like one of those fortune tellers, something called a 'Perceiving Prism'-

Wait, what?!

Dipper turned back to that page. By then, it had been a good fifteen minutes just sifting through pages, and Mabel wasn't beside him anymore. He didn't bother to look up to see where she was, though. He hadn't heard the door open or close, so she was still in the room. Anyway, the Perceiving Prism was an artifact?! It looked just like the pyramid he had in one of his vests, somewhere. He never actually bothered to take it out. The entry read as followed:

'_Out of all of the objects I have seen, the Perceiving Prism, as I've named it, is probably the most useful of all. Unlike other objects that I have seen, this one has no disadvantages to using it. Used correctly, it can amplify a type of wavelength in your mind, and turn it into a full running picture from your recollection! In simpler terms, it stores and can present to anyone any memory of those who have touched or come into contact with it. Once again, Gravity Falls throws us another puzzle to solve, as I am not yet aware how to use it nor how it works.'_

"So... why are you staying on that page so long?" Mabel asked. Dipper broke his gaze away from reading the book to see Mabel sitting in Grunkle Stan's chair. He stood up, holding the book open, then placed it thumb in between the pages, carefully closing the book on it so he could go back to reading the page once he was done talking.

"No reason." He said, lying through his teeth. "Just looked interesting. Anyway, do you know what this book is?" He inquired. She shook her head, and then slowly turned herself upside down on the chair.

"Nope! What is it?" She asked, giving him the answer he wanted.

"It's more like a book of mystical artifacts and items. Look, there's even Gideon's amulet in here!" He said, turning to the page of the turquoise amulet that had caused them so much trouble in past endeavors.

"Really?!" Mabel exclaimed, much more interested now. She quickly turned herself right-side up again, but unfortunately for her, it was too quick. Her hand quickly went to her head as the blood rushed back the proper way. "Ow, ow! Head throbbing!" She stated, and then waited. Dipper patiently waited for her, and after a few minutes, she said, "Like what?"

"Mabel, this must have been all of his knowledge of Gravity Falls! Everything he did and achieved, he got through this book! And he called me useless without my book! Hypocrite!" He said, almost gloating at his new realization. However, Mabel was wondering about something else.

"What's a hypocrite? Is it a hippo in a crate? If so, that's exactly Gideon!" She said, hoping to catch on.

"Mabel, a hypocrite is when someone says that you are wrong by doing something, then does the thing they told you not to do." He explained to her.

"Can he still be a hippo crate? I like that picture of him!" She said, happy to through anything on him. How old was he again, nine? Memories were better if she imagined him as a hippo in a crate. Hah, with a little white wig, too!

"Sure, Mabel. Just know the difference." Dipper said, unaware of her thoughts. She smiled, and laughed. He in turn gave her a confused look, but quickly dropped it. It was Mabel, after all.

"So, what do we do now?" Mabel asked him, clearing away the thoughts of hippo Gideon.

"I really want to go up to the attic to read more of this. We can't really do anything else until Stan gets back, right?" He asked.

"I guess so. If he's not here, no one's stopping me from getting the cheese spray!" The idea lit a lightbulb in Mabel's head so brightly Dipper swore he saw it come on. She opened the door, and said, "I'll be in the kitchen!" and left. Dipper took one last look at the office, and then exited, closing the door behind him.

* * *

Dipper had been upstairs reading for knows how long. It was pretty late now, and the sun had been down for a while. Suddenly, he heard footsteps rushing up the stair, and the door opened. Mabel, her purple sweater now covered with orange-ish yellow cheese spray said,

"Dipper! Grunkle Stan's home! He brought pasta, and I helped make supper!" She said, enthusiastically. "Come on! You want to eat, don't you?" She asked. Dipper, won the other hand, had other questions. Tucking 2 into his pillowcase where no one would find it, after remembering his place, of course, asked Mabel,

"Did you ask him about it?" Clearly, Mabel had forgotten the scenario from earlier, and asked,

"'It?' What 'it'?" Dipper would have groaned, but he sniffed the air, and the door Mabel opened also opened the smell to delicious pasta. Which Mabel made. He couldn't get mad at her now!

"Come on, we'll ask Grunkle Stan about 2 now!" He said, and got off of his bed. Both of them headed back down the stairs, where plastic utensils and plates where beside a pot of really good-smelling noodles. They helped themselves, and went to the living room, where they usually ate. There was Grunkle Stan, watching his favorite show, coming to a terrible conclusion.

"On hiatus?! What does that even mean?! No more new episodes until next year?! NOOO-" His unhappy cry was ceased as Dipper and Mabel entered the room, which he quickly turned the channel to football. "Oh, hey you little gremlins. What did you do today?" He asked.

"Not much." Dipper said, but took the advantage when he saw it. "Oh, um, me and Mabel thought we'd try to help find some bills to destroy in your desk. We found a book in there." At this point, Grunkle Stan seemed to pause for a second, then continued chewing. Dipper continued, "It was pretty interesting. All sorts of magic things. How did you get it?" Stan didn't respond for a second, until,

"Ha! Got it off of that little worm, Gideon. Practically dropped the thing into my hands! Anyway, I was thinking on keeping it, seeing as it was a load of garbage beyond belief! Great attractions, I tell you. Started on a whole new line of "Mystery Amulets". Protect you and your wallet! Now, let's watch some football." He said, turning his focus back to the TV. Mabel shot Dipper an I-told-you-so stares, then went back to eating her food, which was almost gone. Dipper sighed, and went back to eating his food.

Later that night, he climbed into bed, and told Mabel goodnight. After the lights were shut off, he took the book out of his pillowcase.

"I guess I've got you now. Huh, I wonder where mine went." He said, and set it under the bed. He fluffed his pillow, and laid down, falling asleep quickly.

Little did he know that would be the first night of the many terrible nightmares to come.

**Eloo, ohdyh Glsshu dorqh! Zkdw glg wkh nlg hyhu gr wr brx?!**


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